Bicentennial Snapshot # 18 Henpeck, Hoosick, Hojack, What’s in a Name? Part 1

July 19, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

This week we explore some of the myths of some of the nicknames of the communities in the town. This week we look at Henpeck, Hoosick, Braddock, and Barnard Crossing. Some have myths about the name, while some are named after a person or where one of the settlers came from and decided to call the Town of Greece their home.

Ada Ridge

In Snapshot # 16 we know the commercial hub of the town, Ada, was named after Ada, Michigan, the former home of the postmaster, William Anderson.

The Myths of how the area known as “Henpeck”
South Greece got its moniker

We are not sure how South Greece mostly the crossroads at Elmgrove Road, Ridgeway ave, and the Erie Canal got the moniker of Henpeck. We have three myths of that moniker henpeck but there may be more than three for the location but the three listed here are ones we at the Historical society discuss in the video above.

If you have not seen the following snapshots or have seen them and would like to a refresher then here they are before we get into these myths about henpeck.

The first one is Snapshot 15 the Erie Canal and then Snapshot 17 Henpeck, South Greece

Henpeck Myth Number 1

Mr. and Mrs. Henpeck wash the dishes from the Library of Congress

The term, Henpeck, has been around since the 1600s and denotes a meek submissive husband constantly nagged by his wife like a hen constantly pecking at the ground. New York author Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle was a henpecked husband.

That’s the reason given most often for South Greece’s nickname: “Some say [it was called Henpeck] because its residents claimed to be ‘henpecked’ by their spouses.” Would the male inhabitants of a rough and tumble canal port really admit that?

For myth 1 we do not have sufficient evidence to prove that this was the reason for naming the area Henpeck.

Henpeck Myth Number 2

A canal enthusiast, who helped get Henpeck Park developed had another theory; he said in a news account that he knew of stories that the name was linked to a type of hen developed in the vicinity. There were a number of farms in the area some were chicken farms or turkey farms, as well as orchards that grew apples and other produce that was sold in the community. But without enough evidence that the type of hen that was raised in the area and journals or diary entries to prove that this was the reason for naming the area Henpeck.

Chicken by William Baptiste Baird from the Library of Congress

Henpeck Myth Number 3

Henpeck is marked by using the star to pin point the little community of HenpeckHenpeck is marked by using the star to pin point the little community of Henpeck — Henpeck is marked by using the star to pinpoint the little community of Henpeck

This one may be a little more realistic considering there is a small hamlet called Henpeck in Cattaraugus County that could make the naming of the area to be a little bit more solid than the last two myths.

The town of Sandusky in Cattaraugus County was the hometown of longtime journalist and chronicler of local history Arch Merrill; he wrote in several of his columns that Sandusky used to be called Henpeck. Perhaps, like William Anderson and Ada, a former resident from the Southern tier brought the name with him.

But without sufficient evidence to prove that the journalist Arch Merrill was the source of naming the area Henpeck.

Henpeck Myth Conclusion

Overall on the three myths we looked at for Henpeck, we may never know how South Greece came to be called Henpeck, but that’s one of the joys of researching local history, one day you might uncover a document that answers the question.

The Myths of how the area known as “Hoosick”
West Greece got its moniker

Map of West Greece the Dotten Line is the town board the Pink tint is the Town of Parma the yellow tint is the Town of Greece and sitting in the middle of the line is the Church

West Greece is center at the crossroads of Manitou and Ridge Road on the Greece Parma border as you see on the map. West Greece will be featured in Snapshot number 20.

One of the Myths on Hoosick involves the local doctor Dr. Samuel Beach Bradley and will be featured in snapshot number 21.

Hoosick Myth Number 1

Our First myth about Hoosick comes from the neighbor of Doctor Bradley you can see where the Doctor and Mrs. McNeely’s property is right next door to one of the buildings owned by Doctor Samuel Beach Bradley.

A humorous accounting for that name has been handed down through the years. Dr. Samuel Beach Bradley practiced medicine for many years in West Greece. As the legend goes, he had a neighbor, Mrs. Rosa McNeely, who whenever the good Doctor drove by her house, would stand on her porch “flapping her calico apron wildly and crying out: “Dr. Bradley, who’s sick, who’s sick?”

For some people when you say “Hoosick” it could sound like “who’s sick” without the apostrophe s after who which is why it may sound the same but without some documentation to prove that this is the reason why West Greece is named Hoosick and the cemetery is labeled Hoosick Cemetery.

Hoosick Myth Number 2

Hoosick Falls from 1889 by L.R. Burleigh

This myth could be a little bit reasonable as to why the area is named Hoosick, according to historical research, however, it documents a more pedestrian explanation for the name. The people who first settled in West Greece came from the Hoosick Falls area near Albany and the name was used before Doctor Bradley ever lived there. There is also a tiny town named Hoosick, New York, which could be source two but may depend on the records of where the West Greece settlers came from.

The Braddock Bay Myths

HDR picture of Braddock Bay Marina by Doug Worboys

Over the course of time, many Greece residents at one point or another have visited this park because of its views and nature trails or visited the Braddock Bay Raptor Group when they do programs here, or have taken lots of wildlife photos at the park but did you know that Braddock Bay itself has myths of its own but none of them have any documented answers to why the bay is called Braddock near the end of this snapshot.

Braddock Bay Myth Number 1 –
The French and Indian War Connection

The First myth we look at is a General that was stationed at Fort Niagara a British General by the name of John Prideaux. Based on some records and accounts historians theorize that it was named after a British General. During the French and Indian War, most likely near the end of June 1759, General John Prideaux camped on the shores of the bay with two thousand of his troops, and with them were another thousand Haudenosaunee warriors under the command of Sir William Johnson. They were on their way to successfully lay siege to the French-occupied Fort Niagara in July. Alas, Johnson, a prolific journalist, was suffering from a cold when he camped at the bay so there is little detail about it in his journal.

General Prideaux was killed during the battle for Fort Niagara (unfortunately, he stepped in the way of his own army’s mortar and was decapitated). The Bay was subsequently named after him, Prideaux Bay. But over the years in which his name was “barbarously mispronounced” his name disappeared; perhaps Yankees found the name too hard to say and it morphed from Bradloe to finally Braddock. Or maybe people confused him with another major general from the French and Indian War, killed in battle in Pennsylvania, Edward Braddock.

But without that journal entries, we will never know it being named after Edward Braddock is not known either but this is the myth of the French and Indian War Myth for naming the Bay.

Braddock Bay Myth Number 2 –
The Lost Treasure of The Pirate Braddock

Faulding Skinner, known as Doc, frequently recounted a story his father told him about Captain Braddock. According to the story, this Braddock was a notorious pirate chased into the bay by British ships. Depending on who was telling or retelling the story, rather than being caught with the goods, he either dropped his loot into the bay or buried it near the base of a tree on the shore. Whenever Doc told this story, afterward there’d be holes around all the trees near the bay.

Aerial image of the Braddock Bay, NY located on Lake Ontario. — Aerial image of Braddock Bay, NY located on Lake Ontario. – SUNY School SOAR

Barnard Crossing is not a Myth but connected to a real family

We do know for whom Barnard’s Crossing was named. The railroad cut across the property of Mrs. Thomas Barnard and the train station was called Barnard’s Crossing. The United States postal service streamlined the name and eliminated the ‘s and Crossing so the area for the most part is now known simply as Barnard.

When did the United States remove apostrophes
from most places?

The answer will surprise you it was done on September 4, 1890, President Harrison signed Executive Order 28 instructing Congress on the creation of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) later on during a public law session in 1947 the rules that set up a unified naming convention of geographic name usage throughout the Federal Government. It was the creation of the naming convention that help simplify the naming standards because depending on what map you are looking one could have Braddock’s Bay and then 5 years later it could show just Braddock Bay. There are only five locations that have been approved to use the apostrophes in their name for mailing purposes they are

— Martha’s Vineyard in 1933, after an extensive local campaign;

— Ike’s Point in New Jersey in 1944 because the name “would be unrecognizable otherwise”;

— John E’s Pond in Rhode Island in 1963 to prevent it from being mispronounced as John “Ess” Pond;

— Carlos Elmer’s Joshua View in Arizona in 1995 to keep the reference to a Joshua tree forest in Mohave County from sounding like three first names in a row;

— and Clark’s Mountain in Oregon in 2002 to accentuate the tribute to William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame.

To learn more on what the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) does you can check out the resources at the United States Geological Survey – Board on Geographic Names or Board on Geographic Names Resource page https://www.usgs.gov/us-board-on-geographic-names/resources

Bicentennial Snapshot # 16 – ‘ADA’ Ridge Hamlet

July 5, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

Map with each hamlet listed click to view a larger image

In the early years of the town, there were little hamlets or unincorporated villages that people called different sections of Greece, for example, you have ADA Ridge which is the intersection of Mitchell Road Long Pond Road, and Ridge Road, Jekin’s Corner/North Greece is located at Latta Road and North Greece Road, South Greece is at Elmgrove Road at the Erie Canal, Dewey Stone Hamlet is right at where Dewey ave meets Stone Road, Paddy Hill/Read’s Corner is at Mount Read and Latta.

This week we explore the Hamlet of Ada which is at the intersection of Mitchell Road, Long Pond Road, and Ridge Road, this is where the center of town offices was except for the Department of Public Works until 1997 when the complex moved to the Greece Center area just north of Latta on Long Pond. We first told you about how the ridge was a glacial ridge, then the stagecoach route in episode 11, and the toll plank road from Long Pond Road to Elmgrove Road in episode 12, we introduce you to William Anderson General store and that was the post office for Ada in episode 14. You might have learned about the early Rowe family with the settlement at King’s Landing in the 4th snapshot. and we look at Asa Rowes’ Nursery business in snapshot 13.

Anderson’s General Store

In Snapshot 14 we told you that there were many general stores that people would shop at to get items for everyday living and one of these stores was William Anderson general store. William H Anderson was born in October 1849 in a small community called Ada Michigan, and he came to Greece, New York later in life with his wife Lois E. (Hyatt) Anderson. It was in Greece that he became a postmaster and opened his general store on the southeast corner of Ridge Road and Mitchell Road.

Did you know that a portion of Ridge Road was a toll-based planked road?

Note on the map on the left the Y-shaped conjunction of Long Pond Road, then known as Greece Centre Road, on the left, and the road that borders the property of farmer Erastus Walker on the right. In the 1860s there was a section that was planked it was from Long Pond Road to Elmgrove Road (Henpeck Road). It was a 2.5-mile stretch that was plank which means the road was made of wooden planks it was thought to have been 9 1⁄2 miles (15.3 km) and chartered on October 23, 1848, and there was a court case involving Kenyon vs the Seeley over the tolls that were collected on this plank road. Locals didn’t think it was necessary to pay to use the road. Erastus Walker used to cut across his fields to bypass the toll gate. After being used by so many, so often it became a right of way. Just south of the Walker property was land owned by the Mitchells. Eventually, the Mitchells would own the Walker Land and the name of the road changed to Mitchell Road.

Greece Baptist Church

Greece Baptist Church was one of the first churches in the town. The first building for Greece Baptist Church was built in the 1830s at the corner of Ridge Road and Long Pond Road. Picture in the video was its home until 1962 when the new home for Greece Baptist church was built at the end of Walker St a street that runs east-west and parallels just north of the ridge it runs just behind Buckman’s Plaza and now it connects the newly formed Greece Baptist Church Parkway. The Cole and Kenyon families are founding members of the Greece Baptist Church, Cousins Deb Myers and Maureen Murphy are descendants of the families who attended this church and help found Greece Baptist Church. The reason for the Church to move 700 feet was the community was growing by leaps and bounds after world war 2 and Ridge road expanded from one lane in each direction to a four-lane with two lanes going eastbound and two lanes going westbound. It recently turned 190 years and in ten years it will be celebrating its own bicentennial.

The Rowe Tavern

The original Rowe tavern that Asa’s father started in the early 1800s no exact date of the day it opened but we believe it was somewhere around circa 1804 but with no exact records or proof other than on a map showing that shows where it was located. The Rowe Tavern burned down in 1845 while being operated by R.P. Edgarton at that time while Asa was running his Horticultural and Nursery farm. It was later rebuilt.

St. Johns Church, the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church.

1875 Picture of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church

St Johns 1964 Church — 2014 Picture of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church Now photo by Bill Sauers

St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church was founded as a satellite parish of Our Mother of Sorrows Church. The original 20 congregants met in the Rowe tavern building from 1865 until 1876 when they were able to construct a church on the site. The tavern building became the priests’ rectory. Later on, the Church would expand to add a school and then a completely new structure set back further from the road to its new Church which is featured in two separate recordings about the Architect James H. Johnson (May 2012) and the Architecture of James H. Johnson (May 2019) but later on the church would sell the old rectory and school. The St Johns school lot became a Royal Car Wash.

We also had a Tuesday program with one of the families that were part of the original St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church her name is Carolyn Kerhaert a descendant of the VOLKMAR family who came to Greece about 1865 and help found St. John’s Church.

Up Close with Two Greece Pioneer Families – the Volkmar and Cole/Kenyon families May 10, 2022

The Falls Hotel

A little way down no more than 30 feet was the Falls Hotel. It opened under the ownership of William Fall, later it was operated by T. B. Hiett this would explain why the street Hiett Rd runs parallel to the Ridge and ends when you enter into the parking lot of St. Johns Church, the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church.

The Falls hotel also had a fire this was not till 1883 when the hotel was under the management of Willam Gentle who was the proprietor at the time of the fire. The Falls Hotel would later be reborn but it took some skills and lots of logs to basically move the Old Rowe Tavern from where the old Rectory for St. Johns Church stands today and move it across the road to where the entrance to Red Robin at the Mall at Greece Ridge is at today. The deal made to move the Tavern involved the congregants, the Pastor of the church, and the proprietor of the building moving it across the way to build the church.

The Fetzner Family

The Fetzner family ran a Blacksmith and Carriage shop also they were one of the first families that ran a fire company in the hamlet of Ada at the intersection of Ridge, Long Pond, and Mitchell Roads. In 1876, two brothers, Frank and John Fetzner, opened the Fetzner Brothers Blacksmith and Carriage shops on West Ridge Road across the street from the St. John the Evangelist Church and next door to the Falls Hotel. Peter Knipper who was married to the Fetzner’s cousin, Mary Mura, bought the Falls Hotel in 1889.

In this 1960s picture on the Left is Fetzner Garage | Richards on the Ridge to the right

They were one of the groups of merchants who went in on a soda acid chemical to fight fires in the area of Ada in the museum we have a soda acid chemical hand-pulled truck.

Buckman’s

Stay tuned for a snapshot of Buckman’s Dairy and Bakery but in the meantime, we have a program on Buckman’s Dairy History recorded in July 2017, and here is an article from our newsletter titled Homer J. Buckman – Sold Milk, Cream, and Lollipops!!! – From the historian’s Files. Also Homer J. Buckman will be featured in the upcoming Pioneer Families Volume II coming 2024 stay tuned to our Facebook page when the book goes live for orders.

Bicentennial Snapshot # 15 – Erie Canal

June 28, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

We explore the impact that the canal had on the Town of Greece, in the state of New York. In 1817 the idea was formed to create an easy way to get products from Lake Erie, and the other Great Lakes to New York City and back.

According to Wikipedia, The canal was first proposed in the 1780s, then re-proposed in 1807, and the survey was authorized, funded, and executed in 1808. Its construction began in 1817 after proponents of the project gradually wore down its opponents; and it opened on October 26, 1825. The canal has 34 locks with an overall elevation difference of about 565 feet (172 m),^[1] starting upstream with Black Rock Lock and ending downstream with the Troy Federal Lock. Both locks are owned by the United States Federal Government^[2].

The Canal Started at Lockport and ended at the Hudson River.

The Erie canal had received some nicknames for the Erie Canal project because of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, his project received some interesting names, and his political opponents wanted to call the project, here are a few of the names they called the Erie Canal, the first name it was derided as was “Clinton’s Folly”, another one was “Clinton’s Big Ditch”, and “Clinton’s Ditch”. Over time the folks realized that the Erie canal helped bolster the port at New York City with a strong advantage over other port cities on the eastern seaboard and helped make it easier to travel by water than it was to portage the goods to stagecoaches or other modes of early transportation in the interior of the United States.

The Erie Canal was one of the great civil engineering projects of its time, and the cost to build it was $7,143,789. The total length of the Canal is 363 Feet(584 km) and 50 Locks made up the canal to traverse the change in elevations of sea levels to get it from the Hudson River elevation to the elevation of Lake Erie.

Asa Rowe Ad in the Genesee Farmer Monroe Horticultural Garden

If you remember when we told you about Asa Rowe and his Monroe Horticulture Garden and Nursery he took full advantage of the Erie canal for shipping all his plants and seeds to other states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconson, featured in Bicentennial Snapshot # 13.

As the canal was dug by hand it required an army of laborers. Some of those laborers, such as Terry Burns, one of the pioneers of Greece, decided to stay after working on the canal, settling in Greece in 1823.

South Greece did have one Lock and it was only used when they did the expansion in 1919 till about 1923 then after it was used as a dry dock for the rest of the 1920s on the canal but later it was decommissioned and blocked off the dock is now just being overgrown with trees and other wild plants.

Erie Canal Completion Medal, 1826 this one is in The Henry Ford Museum

During my Visit to the Henry Ford Museum in August, I saw this sitting in the Driving America Exhibit in front of an 1891 Abbot Downing Concord Coach.

The Buffalo Maritime Center is in the process of building a replica of a packet boat at the Longshed at Canalside in Buffalo at the end of the Commerical Slip and they believe it will take at least 2 years to complete the boat project and set sail in 2025 for the 200th anniversary of merging of the waters. In 2025 they will be traveling the Erie Canal and stopping in each community along the Erie canal so people explore the replica, as well as displays about building the boat and how they built it, and the materials they used in the process you can learn more about the project at https://buffalomaritimecenter.org/

1. Finch, Roy G. (1925). The Story of the New York State Canals (PDF). New York State Engineer and Surveyor. Retrieved June 28, 2022.

2. “Locks on the Erie Canal”. The Erie Canal. Retrieved June 28, 2022.

Bicentennial Snapshot # 14 – General Stores

June 21, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

This week on our Bicentennial Snapshot we explore two of the most visited General Stores out of two neighborhoods the first one will be H.C. Phelps Located on the southwest corner at Latta and North Greece and the second one is Gilbert (Burt) J Wagg’s Groceries and Provisions Located where Tim Horton’s is today at Lake Ave, Ridge Road and Pullman Ave.

Disclaimer The references to tobacco products in this Bicentennial Snapshot are for historical purposes only, recounting an individual’s reminiscences of a bygone era. The Greece Historical Society does not encourage the use of any tobacco products.

Today we take it for granted how easy it is to buy food, clothing, and other products from various stores and within easy travel distance or online via Amazon, eBay, and other online retailers. But in the 19th century and even into the 20th century, Greece residents depended on General Stores for their purchasing needs.

When the American colonists mainly started expanding west word they would set up General Stores that would be where the travelers or residents of the small villages or towns would gather to buy, trade, or sell items that they needed for a day-to-day living unlike how it is now that you purchase Clothing from Store A and then go to store B to get you Garden supplies, then maybe you go to Store C for your meats, and then finally get to the Produce Market for all your fresh produce these good would last longer or shorter depending what the product was intended for like planned obsolescence.

The invention of the Ice Box did help out with some growth of General stores but some of the General stores evolved with the times and they kept up with the changes evolving into smaller corner stores which some people will call the store a bodega, especially in New York City. In other parts of the country, the Mom and Pop General stores are somewhat making comebacks in your rural communities because these are now becoming small access points for online orders and delivery hubs for pickups for places like Amazon, UPS, FedEx, DHL, LaserShip, and even the post office still because the cost is still worth them to operate just to help the people that cannot get the packages delivered to the porch of the local farmer or rancher or even the smallest campgrounds.

Question of the Week:

How long do you think it would take for you to get from Hoosick Cemetary (West Greece) Manitou at West Ridge Road to G.C. Latta House at Lake Ave, and Latta Rd in Charlotte?

But for this question, we will be starting at the Hoosick Cemetary Manitou Road at West Ridge Road, proceed heading north on Manitou Road until you come to Latta Road, and then make the right on Latta Road passing H.C. Phelps General store on the right at North Greece and Latta road, and continuing on Latta you will be passing Green Acres on your left, you then continue on Latta and cross over Long Pond Road, maybe stop at Apple Anne’s for some apples, after that you maybe stop to worship at Mother of Sorrow’s church and then head down the hill and cross over Dewey ave and a much smoother path on Latta road you pass on your left the Fleming Homestead now a nursing home to then you should get to your destination at Lake Ave and Latta in front of the G.C. Latta House

Here is the formula to solve for each type of mode of transportation

time = distance/speed

Your Distance is 9.5 Miles

Your Speed is based on the mode of transportation you take to get to the destination.

Traveling by car at 35 mph

Traveling by a Horse at 5-8 mph

Traveling by a pedal bike can vary depending on how fast you can pedal it can be as low as 8 mph and high as 26 mph

Traveling by public transit is not available for this example.

The answer to this will be at the end of this post with the solution to this question.

H.C. Phelps.

H.C. Phelps is located on the southwest corner of Latta Rd and North Greece Rd.

Henry C. Phelps built his store on North Greece Road in about 1870. The area was then known as Jenkins Corner at Latta Rd. By 1900 it had the name, North Greece, as it’s known today. Henry carried a varied lot of merchandise. Just about anything that would fit in the store and would sell found a place on the floor or a shelf. He catered to the farmer and his family. It helped that the local U.S. Post Office was also in the building. The opening of the Manitou (seasonal) Trolley in the 1890s expanded the number of cottages along the lake and bays. Several times a week Phelps would send out his horse and wagon filled with fresh vegetables, fruit, and sundries. Going door to door, the “huckster” (an old term for a peddler) would often empty his wagon by the end of his route. After Mr. Phelps retired the store continued under several owners and name changes well into the 20th century. The post office moved to its own quarters and other business enterprises took over the site until we arrive in the 21st century. Except for the loss of the front porch and several horse-hitching posts, the building remains much as it was built over 145 years ago. An insurance office is now the proud caretaker.

Gilbert “Burt” J Wagg

Gilbert (Burt) J Wagg’s Groceries and Provisions is Located where Tim Horton’s is today at Lake Ave, Ridge Road, and Pullman Ave.

Wagg’s Grocery and Provisions store could hardly be called a general store in the same sense as Henry Phelps’s business. Gilbert (Burt) J. Wagg started in business in the early 1900s with several small grocery stores in Rochester. Since he was a natural salesman and “go-getter” (a favorite saying of the day), he decided to open yet another store on the northwestern edge of the city. Streets along Lake Avenue were developed because of the expansion of the Eastman Kodak Company, and Kodak Park Works. An ideal place for Burt’s new store was on the east side of Lake Avenue near Kodak. The business grew, with departments added almost yearly. A bakery, a meat department, groceries, and produce were sold there from the start. Furniture, china, yard goods, clothing, shoes, phonographs later called gramophones now called record players or turntables depending on your generation, and records all became integrated into Wagg’s, especially after the business was moved nearby to a building with ample floor space about 1912. The business eventually took a building on Lake Avenue as well as a number down Pullman Avenue.

One photo ( 1920) shows the business with a bus at the corner of Lake and Pullman. Most people referred to it as Wagg’s Corner. The mini-department store then employed 28 clerks and drivers to cover the departments and five delivery wagons. Burt is at the telephone in one of the photos and his sister Grace is at the adding machine to his right. Grace was as astute about the business as her brother. Burt passed on in 1944.

Burt is at the telephone in one of the photos and his sister Grace is at the adding machine to his right.

Grace took over and ran it until it became clear newer and more modern stores had opened on West Ridge Road. The business closed in 1964 and the building was torn down in 1988. Parts of the other shops that were to the right of the G.J. Wagg’s store are still standing but now are apartments at 17 thru 29 Pullman Ave. Pullman Ave was redesigned to come back a bit from the corner that Lake Ave and Ridge Road to prevent sharp turns onto Pullman Ave from coming from the Veterans Bridge or from lake ave turn onto Ridge Road and then a sharp left onto Pullman Ave and then the raised median makes it impossible to turn on to Pullman ave after the light on at ridge and lake coming from the Veterans Bridge.

Answer to the Question

How long do you think it would take for you to get from Hoosick Cemetary (West Greece) Manitou at West Ridge Road to G.C. Latta House at Lake Ave, and Latta Rd in Charlotte?

Your Distance is 9.5 miles in one direction

Your Speed is based on the mode of transportation you take to get to the destination.

Mode of Transportation	Speed	One Way Trip	Round Trip Time
Car	35 mph	15-17 minutes	30-34 minutes
Pedal Bike †	8 mph	1 hour, 11 minutes, 15 seconds	2 hours, 22 minutes, 30 seconds
Pedal Bike †	26 mph	0 hours, 21 minutes, 55 seconds	0 hours, 43 minutes, 51 seconds
Horse Trot‡	5 mph	1 hour, 54 minutes, 0 seconds	3 hours, 48 minutes, 0 seconds
Horse Trot‡	8 mph	1 hour, 11 minutes, 15 seconds	2 hours, 22 minutes, 30 seconds
Walking §		3 Hours 10 Minutes	6 Hours 20 minutes

Calculation of Time

† Traveling by a pedal bike can vary depending on how fast you can pedal it can be as low as 8 mph and high as 26 mph

‡ Traveling by a Horse at a trot at 5-8 mph

Traveling by public transit is not available for this example based on the chosen route that was selected

Bicentennial Snapshot # 13: Asa Rowe, James Vick and the Beginning of the Nursery Industry

June 14, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

Rochester went from being the flour city to the Flower city. But actually, the nursery industry in Monroe County started in Greece!

Topics and Facts in this Bicentennial Snapshot:

Interesting Fun Facts about Flour City and Flower City
Asa Rowe
James Vick

Interesting Facts

Question: Did you know Rochester went from being the flour city to the Flower city?

Answer: Actually, the nursery industry in Monroe County started in Greece. This was because of the amount of fertile land and the vast openness for the growth of Flowers, Produce, Fruits, and other plants that would grow in the region.

Question: What was Rochester known for first as the Flour or was it Flower?

The answer may surprise some of you it first was known as the flour city because of the gristmill that Ebenezer “Indian” Allen had at one point and in Aqueduct Park there is a sign that tells about the gristmill that was located at 47-59 E Main St, Rochester, NY 14614 which is the at the corner of East Main Street and Greaves St in the City of Rochester. The City then became known as the Flower City in 1859.

Asa Rowe (Brith: 25 Feb 1806, Death:23 Nov 1894 (aged 88) )

Asa Rowe, 1806-1895, A Pioneer, Tavernkeeper, and Nurseryman

Learn more from this short paper on Asa Rowe, edited by Lee Strauss

Asa Rowe was born February 25, 1806, and was the son of Abel Rowe and Ame Hincher, and grandson of two of the first families of Greece. His father, Abel Rowe, and his grandparents Daniel and Ruth Granger Rowe were settlers at King’s Landing featured in the Bicentennial Snapshot number 4. His mother was Ame Hincher, the daughter of William and Mehitable Hincher; she came to Charlotte in 1792 with her parents and they were the first European settlers to reside west of the Genesee River.

Asa Rowe established the first nursery business in Monroe County in 1826 when he opened the Monroe Garden and Nursery on the north side of Ridge Road near where today, Mitchell, Long Pond, and Ridge Roads intersect.

His Dad Able Rowe ran the Rowe Tavern, more on the Rowe Tavern appeared in Bicentennials Snapshots 11 & 12 The Ridge parts 1 and 2, and 16 ADA Ridge.

Take a look at the images below, the first image is the cover of the Genesee Farmer, where Asa would place ads for the Monroe Horticultural Garden and Nurseries he ran. The next image in the slideshow is one of the ads Asa ran. The final image in this slideshow is the same ad but note the text that is in the odd style circle Asa mentions that he takes advantage of the Erie Canal otherwise Known as Clinton’s Ditch which will be explained in two weeks in the Bicentennial Snapshot # 15 – The Erie Canal.

Note the text In Purple Asa made use of the Erie Canal

James Vick (1818-1882) from Vick illustrated catalog

James Vick (Born November 23, 1818 – Death 16 May 1882 (aged 63))

James Vick was born November 23, 1818, in Portsmouth, Portsmouth Unitary Authority, Hampshire, England to parents James Vick and Elizabeth Vick. James’s brothers were George Vick, William Vick, Joseph Henry Vick, and Charles Frederick Vick. George also had a knack for the seed business as well as his brother James. But for this snapshot, we will mostly focus on James Vick.

Coming from Portsmouth, Portsmouth Unitary Authority, Hampshire, England he did make one friend before leaving England any guesses as to what famous author was born in Landport, Portsmouth, United Kingdom?

It’s no other than the boyhood home of the famous author Charles Dickens the author of A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities as well as some other books. James Vick enjoyed having a lifelong friendship with Charles Dickens.

James Vick emigrated to America in 1833 with his father’s family. Like many of the Rochester horticulturists of the nineteenth century, Vick was closely entwined with the publishing world. He first came to Rochester from New York City in 1837 as a printer, and shortly thereafter became associated with the Genesee Farmer as a writer and editor, and finally as owner and publisher during the period 1849-1855. Also, James helps a famous Abolitionist in Rochester print his newspaper the North Star you are probably thinking of Frederick Douglas. If you were you are correct he help Frederick print his newspaper to help slaves make it to freedom and tell stories that would not be printed in the other papers at the time that the North Star was printed.

After the death of Andrew Jackson Downing, the great landscape architect, Vick purchased The Horticulturist from Downing’s estate and moved it to Rochester where he published it from 1853 to 1855 with Patrick Barry as editor. Vick later edited and published The Rural Annual and Horticultural Directory from 1856 to 1857 when he sold it to Joseph Harris who continued it until 1867. Vick also edited The Rural New Yorker from 1857 to 1862. While Vick was publishing and writing he was also experimenting with seeds in his spare time.

This sideline soon grew into a viable business venture and by 1866 Vick acquired some land on East Avenue, now Vick Park A and Vick Park B, and quickly developed this plot into one of the most famous seed gardens in the United States. Until 1870, he packed most of his seed in the attic of his home before moving to a four-story building at State and Market Streets.

The grand opening of his new headquarters was happily attended by many people, so many that hundreds had to be turned away at the door. The Union and Advertiser reported that “in the evening the crowd was fearful and the efforts of the police, who were detailed for that purpose, were tasked to their utmost to preserve order and to keep the stairs, halls, and rooms from being choked up with a struggling mass of humanity. “

Vick's Seed Warehouse at the corner of State and Market Streets — Vick’s Seed Warehouse at the corner of State and Market Streets

Vick’s Seed Farm in Greece at Manitou and the Erie Canal

Vick’s four sons, James Jr., Charles, Frank, and Edward, attended to the various affairs of the business. Edward supervised the storage of bulbs and seeds; Charles was in charge of the bindery; James Jr. was head of financial affairs, and Frank oversaw the packing room. James Vick’s two brothers, Joseph and William, were in charge of the company’s fifty-acre seed farm in Greece. At Vick’s seed farm on Manitou Road at the Erie Canal that the flag was created out of Aster Flowers and people would travel on the Erie Canal to just come to look at the display each year when springtime would come around.

By 1872 the Vick Seed Company was sending out more than 200,000 illustrated catalogs each year and was advertising in 3,300 newspapers and in all of the American agricultural and horticultural journals. The advertising bill in December 1870 amounted to $15,000. $4650 was spent just on stamps.

His thriving vegetable and flower bulb nursery was on Dewey Avenue where the Villa of Hope (formerly St. Joseph’s Villa) is located today.

The Greenhouses in this picture came from Vicks on Dewey Ave

Also, You won’t believe this but the greenhouses that were located at Vick’s were purchased by The Frears Family and sit at Frears’s Garden Center. We at the Greece Historical Society found that information out today with an interview with the grandson of E. Frear.

More on the Frear’s Garden Center in the article Farwell To Frear’s with some additional photos of that garden center.

A Farewell to Frear’s Garden Center

Bicentennial Snapshot # 12 – The Ridge Part 2

June 7, 2022October 6, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

This week we continue the look at the central commercial district in the town most of you know as

The Ridge.

In the bicentennial snapshot # 11 the Ridge Part 1 – we started out with the life of the ridge forming from the glacial thru just the starting of Eastman Kodak company at Ridge Road and Lake Ave northwest corner. This week we look at the growth and population boom on the Ridge Road.

Topics that are featured in this video

Plank Road
J. Y. McClintock and the McClintock Cubes
Breif overview Annexation of parts of Ridge for the City of Rochester
The Greece Memorial Town Hall and ADA Ridge
Dewey Ave at West Ridge Road
Plazas on The Ridge
The evolution of the Ridge from a Path to a Six-Lane with Median

Plank Roads

Did you know that a portion of Ridge Road was a planked road? in the 1860s there was a section that was planked it was from Long Pond Road to Elmgrove Road (Henpeck Road). It was a 2.5-mile stretch that was plank which means is the road was made of wooden planks it was thought to have been 9 1⁄2 miles (15.3 km)and chartered on October 23, 1848, and there was a court case involving Kenyon vs the Seeley over the tolls that were collected on this plank road.

For the most part, however, the Ridge was a dirt road until the beginning of the 20th century. In the foreground of this photo is the dirt roadway. A bicyclist goes along a cinder path; this was laid out circa 1884. One had to buy a license for the bicycle to use the path—that’s how it was maintained. One resident writing about the early nineteen hundreds said that bicycles were “almost as thick on that path as the cars are on the Ridge today.” Notice, Lay farm and the greenhouses in which flowers were cultivated as well as other fruits and produce were prep for the spring planting season.

J. Y. McClintock and the McClintock Cubes

In 1900, Ridge Road became a state road, and money was appropriated for its improvement. In 1909, an experimental paving technique was used; 2-inch square cubes, which were called McClintock cubes after the Monroe County Road Supervisor who promoted their use, had to be laid by hand across the 16-foot width of the road. More than 700,000 cubes were laid. The cubes were able to withstand the heavy traffic along the Ridge for only two years and then began to fail.

McClintock cubes , had to be laid by hand across the 16-foot width of the road
J. Y. McClintock – Monroe County Road Supervisor

Annexation of parts of Ridge for the City of Rochester

The city started to expand in 1850 slowly with the annexation of Driving Park, and yes there was a horse racing track, on Driving park. Then again in 1874. The Village and the port of Charlotte were annexed next in 1916. Then just after World War One in 1919, the City took the rest of lake ave as well as portions of Dewey and, and Ridge Road and Mt. Read Blvd. Because of the Annexation of the village of Charlotte the town needed a new town hall and town center that is when the Town Memorial Hall, was built as a tribute to all the lives lost as a result of World War 1, it was completed in 1921 and then expanded in over the next 80 years. More on this topic in a future snapshot.

The Greece Memorial Town Hall and ADA Ridge

On the right is a slideshow that shows the changes of the town hall over the last 80 years until the mid-1990s when the town outgrew the town hall complex at Ridge Road, and with Ridge Road Fire District being right across the street and the pending expansion of the Ridge in 2002. Here is a small expert from an article Alan Muller Greece Historical Society’s Historian wrote in the society’s newsletter talking about the reason for the change of the town hall location and why it was needed. The population at the time of the construction of the Town Hall at Ridge, Long Pond, and Mitchell Roads was only 3,350. More on this topic in a future snapshot.

Here is a small excerpt from The Tale of Three Bricks Or – “It only took 25 years”

Through the next almost eighty years many additions and changes were added to increase the needed space. Again, as before, talks were started that a new Town Hall was needed. The added arrival of the computer age compounded the problem. The electrical system, as well as the telephone wiring system, was aged and obsolete. The thick brick walls did not lend themselves easily to that kind of an upgrade.
Alan Muller – The Tale of Three Bricks Or – “It only took 25 years”

Across from the Town Hall was Whitman’s Service station which later became Wittman Motors and included a tow service. Wittman’s was located at 2496 Ridge Road, across from the old Town Hall.

Wittman’s Carriage shop became Wittman’s Motors at 2496 West Ridge Road

Dewey Ave at West Ridge Road

Corner of Ridge Road and Dewey Avenue looking west down Ridge, 1940s. — Corner of Ridge Road and Dewey Avenue
looking west down Ridge, 1940s.
Office of The Town Historian

With the invention of the Automobiles, it would allow thousands of Greece Residents to commute to Kodak or many other places throughout the town in the picture to the left you can see how busy the intersection of Dewey Ave and West Ridge Road was in the 1940s. More On the Dewey Ave corridor in a future episode of the Bicentennial snapshot.

Plazas on The Ridge

In the years after World War 2, the town started to explode with population growth, and with that, it brought a number of new plazas and centers to buy your households, groceries, home improvements supplies, and many other goods. Here is a list of the Plazas from the Mount Read to Elmgrove Road goes as the follows:

Staples/Home Depot or Lowes Theater plaza at Mount Read and Ridge (not included below),
Stoneridge is named for the plaza at the corner of Ridge Road and Stone Road,
- Total Square Feet: 180,000
Ridgecrest – Located at Ridge Road and Fetzner Road,
Buchman’s – Buchman’s Bakery / Dairy
The Mall at Greece Ridge is the merger of Greece Towne Mall and Long Ridge Mall
- Total Square Feet: 1,675,000
Ridgemont Plaza is the longest strip mall in Greece and has a post office in the plaza
- Total Square Feet: 320,844
Lowes Plaza now or AMES plaza before 1997 whichever one you know it as
- Over 295,000 Square feet but not Larger then Ridgemont
Finally, Elmridge Center which is Elm of Elmgrove Road and Ridge of West Ridge Road

If we are missing a name of a plaza that should belong on this list that it has to be on West Ridge Road and located between Mount Read Blvd to Elmgrove Road please let us know on our Facebook page if we are missing it and we will at it to this post.

in 1968 The Town’s first indoor mall opened with only 16 stores filled and by Christmas, all 46 shops were filled. More on the 2 malls and the merger will be a future snapshot.

One of the deadliest fires in the town of Greece occurred across from Stoneridge Plaza The Holiday Inn, we will cover it in a special of it is own due to the amount of information from the fire. And with that this was not the only building that had a fire on the Ridge in the Ada Ridge snapshot we tell you about an another fie and this is at the Rowe Tavern and that St. John’s helped moved a building to so the Rowe Tavern could reopen.

The evolution of the Ridge from a Path to a Six-Lane with Median

On the New York DOT they a pdf with the Annual average Daily Traffic what do you think is the annual average daily for the range from Maplewood to elmgrove. This was from a 2003 report from the New York State Department of Transportation Traffic Volume Report for MONROE COUNTY.

Route	Length	Start Description	End Description	Year	AADT
104	0.98	Manitou Rd (RT 261) W GREECE	N Greece Rd	03	29742
104	0.09	N Greece Rd	(NY-386) Elmgrove Rd	00	20930
104	1.87	(NY-386) Elmgrove Rd	LONG POND RD SB	01	33317
104	0.92	LONG POND RD SB	FETZNER RD	03	21607
104	0.09	FETZNER RD	ACC RT 390	98	47261
104	0.62	ACC RT 390	STONE RD	99	44342
104	0.26	STONE RD	MT READ BLVD ROCH W LN	00	49547
104	1.14	MT READ BLVD ROCH W LN	(NY RT-18) DEWEY AVE	98	38514
104	0.64	(NY RT-18) DEWEY AVE	RT 940M LAKE AVE	01	39107
104	0.06	RT 940M LAKE AVE	RIDGEWAY AVE	00	35421
104	0.23	RIDGEWAY AVE	ACC MAPLEWOOD DR	00	54558
				Total Vehicle travel	414346

2003 NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Traffic Volume Report for MONROE COUNTY

This was the reason the Ridge evolved from a path to a two-lane road to a four-lane to now a six-lane with raised medians from coming off the Keeler St Expressway to Palm St and then the median picks back up at Dewey Ave and continues from there until Elmgrove Road/North Greece Road.

Lay Farm

The Corner of West Ridge road and West Outer Drive where Bob Johnson Chevrolet stands today started out as the Lay Farm it the became the Pine Tree Inn, and then Ver Hulst Farm and Ver Hulst Brothers Farm Market from 1936-1993. From 1998 and currently, Bob Johnson Chevrolet, one of the largest automobile dealerships in the country occupies the site.

Bicentennial Snapshot # 11 – The Ridge Part 1

May 31, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

This week we turn our attention to the central commercial district in the town most of you know as

The Ridge.

We at the Greece Historical society bet that most if not, every person in the town of Greece has at least one point in their daily life been to some part of the Ridge, which could be to the Mall at Greece Ridge formally Long Ridge Mall, and Greece Towne Mall, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Wegmans, or the number of other shops and stores along the Ridge.

According to the Diary of Eli Granger whose dairy we share a bit from in the King’s Landing snapshot, he wrote this entry in his diary about the ridge and why he thought it would be a handsome ridge for a road

[1 June 1797] came home on a handsom Ridge suitable for a Roade — got home on Monday 29th May after Spending 14 days 3 of us — 42 days in whole — my Expence for pilott — 8 dollars for Expence at Niagary for pilote &c — 2 dolars — other Expence — $3.90
Diary of Eli Granger https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/4044

Those who may not remember earth science class or other science classes and parts of some history classes when they talked about the Ice Age and how most of the region was covered in ice and glacial valley, also called glacial troughs as seen in this map. Almost 13,000 years ago a large glacial lake, Lake Iroquois, as it is called by geologists, lapped the far eastern portion of what became the Niagara escarpment. When the waters of Lake Iroquois receded, it left a ridge of land 400 feet above sea level. You can see on this map, the dimensions of the prehistoric lake in relation to Lake Ontario today.

Notice the line in Red that is the portion of Ridge Road from the Genesee River to Lewiston. , the /// lines going from lower left to the upper right that is the outline of Lake Iroquois, and the cross lines ### in the pen are the ice sheet as the ice continued to recede north as the time when on from the ice age.

In 1960, in front of the old Greece Town Hall, on W Ridge Road, a Monroe County historical marker was placed noting the history of the old Ridge Road. Before the town moved from the old Greece Memorial Town Hall offices in 1997 to the new Greece Town Hall located on Long Pond Road. With the center of the population being closer to the Latta and Long Pond area the town felt that they need to move all the town services to a centralized campus close to the middle of the town instead of being on a major corridor where it stood for almost 96 years. From March 20, 1960, to 1997 when you went to the Old Greece Memorial Town Halland you might have wandered over and look the historical marker that was in front of the Town Hall. On the historical marker, it explains Ridge Road was molded by glaciers and that it was a well-traveled Haudenosaunee (Indian) trail, then it was traversed by Pioneers’ ox-carts, stagecoaches, and covered wagons, and that the town of Greece was founded in 1822. The Old Ridge Road historical marker was removed for a short time while Ridge Ridge was being expanded into a six-lane with a raised median highway. It was placed in the care of the Greece Historical Society. The sign was reinstalled and now sits on the edge of the sidewalk and the strip plaza.

This sign was originally located right as soon as you walked out of the front doors of Greece Memorial Town Hall and to the left of the Flag pole on the sidewalk in the picture above.

Headline from March 24, 1960, Greece Press,

Strip Plaza at the location where the old Greece Memorial Town Hall stood, Photo Bill Sauers

How much do you think it cost now to start a road like the Ridge, back then in 1813 New York State appropriated $5,000 for construction work that cost would be only $90,346.56 this was mainly to cut down trees and build basic bridges over streams this does not include the veteran’s bridge over the Genesee River, Mount Read bridge, and the bridge at Ridge and I-390/NY-390. Those bridges would be built during Part 2 of the Ridge which will be next week.

We cover more on the Rowe Tavern in our look into the neighborhoods of Greece, which will be called ADA (Ridge) note that this is the only neighborhood that uses the ridge in its title.

Travelers often stopped for the night at one of the two-story taverns along the Ridge, such as the Stone Tavern, or the Rowe Tavern.

**Stage Coach Loaded with passengers**
**in the 1860s from the Office of the Town Historian**

Even though Railroads and by the time these taverns were open for business most of the transportation to these establishments was by stagecoach, and as many as twelve people might be stuffed inside the coach, but that was perhaps better than having to ride outside while being subjected to all kinds of weather that mother nature could unleash during this time period.

There were a number of small general stores that a lot of the early pioneers shopped at for daily goods and items they needed for daily living. Like Anderson General Store located at the southeast corner of Ridge Road and Mitchell Road and Gilbert C. Wagg’s emporium at Ridge Road and Pullman Ave, these two General stores as well as a well-known general store in the North Greece Area at Latta and North Greece Road will be featured in the bicentennial snapshot number 14 all about these general stores. Also, you can check out this article from October 2017, Corinthian called “A Tale of Two General Stores From Apples to Zithers” by Alan Muller

As for the nursery businesses, this was where Asa Rowe, the Lay Farm, the Ver Hulst Farm, and smaller farms operated from but most notably Asa, and the Lay Farm. In 1826, Asa Rowe established the first nursery business in Monroe County when he opened the MONROE GARDEN AND NURSERY on the north side of Ridge Road near where today, Mitchell, Long Pond, and Ridge Roads intersect. He offered a large selection of “fruit and ornamental trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, bulbous roots, and green-house plants.” The opening of the Erie Canal made transportation fast and cheap and his nursery business thrived.

The Lay Farm, which later became the Ver Hulst Farm, now sits Bob Johnson’s Chevrolet.

**Anderson General Store is located at the southeast corner of Ridge Road and Mitchell Road. circa 1912**

Gilbert C. Wagg’s emporium was located at Ridge and Pullman Ave where Tim Horton’s is now located. and a portion of the smaller shops attached to Wagg’s still stands on Pullman Ave as apartments.

How many recognize these two buildings here?

David **Todd Mansion from History of Monroe County, W. H. McIntosh, 1877**

These are two structures that can be seen on the ridge the first one on the left is the David Todd Mansion which became a small apartment complex and the one on the right is The Upton Manor which is now the site of Ridgemont Country Club. For more information check out this article from our newsletter about the Craig house called The Victorian Survivor on the Ridge by Alan Muller written for the September 2020 issue of the Corinthian.

We wonder how many of you know that George Eastman and Eastman Kodak Company started the first plant for filmmaking not in the City of Rochester but in Greece, New York. In the 1890s, George Eastman decided that 16 and a half acres of farmland in Greece, “out in the country” where there was fresh air, plenty of clean water, and railroad terminals, was ideal for his new film-making plant. He constructed it on the corner at Ridge and Lake across the street from Wagg’s Corner. The Town of Greece would never be the same. But that’s a tale for another episode.

**Kodak Park, 1894, Office of the Town Historian**

Bicentennial Snapshot # 10 – Samuel and Lydia and George and Frances Latta

May 24, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

This week we introduce you to Samuel and Lydia and George and Frances Latta, one of the preeminent families of the Town of Greece. They were members of the Valliant 33 group that fought to defend Charlotte and the port from the British in the war of 1812 Part 3 snapshot.

Samuel Latta Bio

George C Latta Bio

Samuel Latta

He was born 14 Apr 1776, in Walkill, Ulster co., New York to James and Sarah Jackson Latta. Some of his many accomplishments as a pioneer family of the town of Northhampton which covers both Towns of Gates and Greece until 1812 when the town was renamed, Gates then in 1822 the two towns split into Gates and Greece. Samuel Latta served as Town Supervisor in 1810 as seen in this map here. He was the first to build a warehouse at the port of Charlotte and was the first Collector of the port which was described in the snapshot Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse. He surveyed and laid out a road from the river to Parma, today’s Latta Road.

Among Samuel’s accomplishments: he built the first warehouse at the mouth of the Genesee River, the first in all of this part of the country; he was the first collector of the Port of Charlotte; he surveyed and laid out a road from the river to Parma, today’s Latta Road.

George C. Latta

George C. Latta was born in 1795 in Walkill, Walkill, Ulster co., New York to James and Sarah Jackson Latta and brother to Samuel. George has some of the same talents as his brother did but he was an entrepreneurial powerhouse. He was the quintessential “self-made man.” The broad range of his investments and businesses included mercantile, forwarding, manufacturing, farming, and nursery operations.

One of the mercantile companies was for a clerk in the Frederick Bushnell and James K. Guernsey mercantile business in Charlotte.

After working in the mercantile business he went on to be the town supervisor from 1845 to 1849, a trustee of his church the Lake United Methodist Church, and he donated the land for the Charlotte Cemetery which is located at 20 River St in Charlotte is right across from where District 4 school was located and now is the site of Rochester Engine 19 Station.

W. M. Britton and Edward Frisbee were not the only town supervisors and or families that help with education and land to be used for a school, In 1837 George Latta donated a site at the North side of Stutson St. A new one-room brick building replaced the old one. In 1837 bricks used for the building were made on site. In the 1860s the school was overcrowded with 1 teacher handling 80 students. In 1868 a new school was built at the corner of Latta Rd and River Streets. In 1893 a two-story addition was completed at a cost of $ 6,200. In 1907 a second school was constructed on-site. After annexation, Rochester built school # 38 on Latta Rd in 1928 and put on an addition in 1953. The evolution of education in the town may be another snapshot altogether as some other things that George C Latta did as supervisor of the town of Greece can be viewed on the digital kiosk at the museum in the section labeled supervisors of Greece.

District 4 on the land that George C Latta donated for the construction of this school

An Article was written by Joan Sullivan about George C Latta a Pioneer, Merchant, and Entrepreneur those who would like to read that article can it be read here

For more about these two pioneer families check out our pioneer families displays in the dining room at the museum Sundays from 1:30 pm to 4 pm. If you are into reading you might want to pick up a copy of Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece: Volume 1 now available in our gift shop or on amazon. Also, some of this information is in Eight Miles Along the Shore as well which is another great book about the town’s history.

All video and post-production are done by Pat Worboys and Narration and script are by Maureen Whalen. Most of the photos in the clip are from the Greece Historical Society’s archives, Greece Town Historian’s Office, and the Greece Post, the rest are creative commons licenses which are provided in the video.

Bicentennial Snapshot # 09 – Giles H Holden

May 17, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

This week we introduce you to Giles H. Holden, the first keeper of the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse. Holden, a veteran of the War of 1812, came to Greece in 1817 to be the Deputy Collector and Surveyor of the port. In 1822, he became the first lighthouse keeper, a position he held until 1834. He was also a Greece Justice of the Peace, a Supervisor of the Town of Greece, and head of the Charlotte Board of Health during a cholera epidemic and he was also a Commissioner of Common Schools for the town of Greece from 1825-1830 while he was the lightkeeper.

Although born in Charleston, New Hampshire circa 1788, Giles Holden grew up in Middlebury, Vermont. He was attending the University of Burlington in Vermont when the War of 1812 began. Holden enlisted; in fact, so many of his fellow students enlisted that the school had to close until the end of the war. After the war, he moved to Perinton to teach school.

On March 9, 1817, he married Susan Bennett, who had been one of his students. The next month they moved to Charlotte after Giles was appointed Deputy Collector and Surveyor of the port. They traveled by horseback, Susan riding behind her new husband. This description of Susan’s reaction to her new home gives you an idea of what the area was like in that era.

“I stood the journey very well, until we reached the brow of Hopper Hill (Hopper Terr, today). Pointing ahead, Giles said ‘Yonder lies Charlotte.’ I looked and seeing nothing but woods, dense woods, a feeling of lonesomeness came over me, and I burst into tears.”
Susan Bennett

They took up residence in a home Giles had built. In 1819, Giles purchased 100 acres of land adjoining the village on the west and farmed it.

Holden became the first lighthouse keeper after the lighthouse was constructed in 1822. He held that position until 1834.

The keeper was provided with a two-room dwelling. But that wasn’t enough for the Holdens with their ten children; Giles enlarged it with two additions. While Giles was the keeper and the deputy collector of the port, the body of Sam Patch, America’s first daredevil was discovered near the mouth of the Genesee River (where the Monroe County boat launch is today). It was five months after his unsuccessful leap of high falls on Friday, November 13, 1829. Holden sent this message to the Rochester Daily Advertiser newspaper:

In addition to his keeper duties, in 1827, Giles was elected Justice of the Peace in Greece. In 1832 he was elected supervisor of Greece. In 1832, a cholera epidemic broke out in Rochester and the surrounding towns. In just six short weeks, the epidemic took almost 2,500 lives, or 1% of the population of the area. During the months of July and August, business and travel were almost entirely suspended. The seemingly vigorous in the morning were carried to their graves before night. Giles Holden was head of the Board of Health for Charlotte and he closed the port and posted guards on Ridge Road to keep infected parties out of Greece.

Because it was a political appointment, Holden lost the lightkeeper position when Andrew Jackson took office in 1835. Those two additions he put on the house? He took them with him, moving them across the street from the lighthouse. Local historian Jack Kemp wrote about Holden “In later life, Giles was addressed as Squire Holden, attesting to the esteem in which he was held by his contemporaries.” Holden died in 1867 and he is buried in the Charlotte Cemetery.

Bicentennial Snapshot # 08 – Charlotte – Genesee Lighthouse

May 10, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

How did the Charlotte – Genesee Lighthouse become a part of the Town’s History and part of the Town’s Seal? The following topics give you more background on the Lighthouse. Not all this information is in the video but here is some additional reading that you can read about the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse

The Connection to the Hinchers
The Creation of the first 6 ports in New York noticed that Buffalo and Genesee are not among these first six ports
Second Session of the Eighth Congress That three new Port Districts were created 2 in New York and the Port of Miami Canal in Ohio
Improvements to the Pier
Seal of Town of Greece
How was the lighthouse powered?
Installation of the New Lighthouse
Giles H Holden Lighthouse keeper Episode # 9

The Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse, the oldest active lighthouse on Lake Ontario, is also marking its bicentennial this year as well as the Town of Greece. We trace its history from its construction in 1822 on land deeded from the Hincher family to the abandonment of the tower and the removal of the light to the west pier, to its restoration as an active lighthouse again in 2014.

The Connection to the Hinchers

Hincher’s Hut hand-drawn by Ed Spelman, 1972

In November 1794, Hincher purchased 627 acres of land in what is now Charlotte, using Continental currency. When the scrip was deemed to be of no value, he was forced to pay for the land a second time. It turned out to be an important purchase. William Hincher died in 1817 at the age of 75. The Charlotte Lighthouse was constructed on part of their property, deeded to the government in 1821 by his widow, Mehitable. She died in 1839 at the age of 94. For more on the Hinchers, Check out the post on the Hinchers. Bicentennial Snapshot # 3: The Hinchers

Photo of the Charlotte – Genesee Lighthouse
Bill Sauers

The Creation of the first 6 ports in New York noticed that Buffalo and Genesee are not among these first six ports

The following information about the creation of the ports for New York and Genesee can be found at https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsllink.html

The Creation of the United States Port of entry, the Roles of the ports, and the duties of the Port Collections officers were established during the 5th Congress, and the 3rd Session, December 3, 1798 – March 3, 1799. Chapter 22 Section 5 of the 3rd Session of the 5th Congress establishes the ports in New York and the districts they encompass it starts at the bottom of https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=753 and continues to the next page https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=754:

Districts and Ports In New York. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That in the state of New York, there shall be six districts, to wit: Sagg Harbor on Nassau or Long Island, the city of New York, the city of Hudson, Champlain, Oswego, and Niagara.

The district of Sagg Harbor shall include all the bays, harbors, rivers, and shores, within the two points of land which are called Oyster Pond point, and Mantauck point; and a collector for the district shall be appointed, to reside at Sagg Harbor, which shall be the only port of entry and delivery in the said district.
The district of the city of New York shall include all such part of the coasts, rivers, bays, and harbors of the said state as are not included in, other districts of the said state, especial]y the several towns or landing places of New Windsor, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Esopus, Kinderhook, and Albany, as ports of delivery only; and a co]lector, naval officer, and surveyor for the district shall be appointed, to reside at New York, which shall be the sole port of entry for the district; and a surveyor, at the city of Albany; and the President of the United States is authorized, if he judge it expedient, to appoint one other surveyor, to reside at such other place in the said district as he shall appoint.
The district of Hudson shall include all the waters and shores of the aid city; and a collector shall be appointed for the said district, the side at the said city of Hudson, which sha]l be the sole port of entry and delivery.
The district of Champlain shall include all such shores and waters of Lake Champlain, and the rivers connected therewith, as lie within the aid state of New York; and the said district shall extend westwardly along the northern boundary line of the said state, unto the place where aid line is bounded by the river St. Lawrence; and the President of the United States is hereby authorized to appoint such place within the said district to be a port of entry and delivery, as he shall judge expedient; and a collector shall be appointed, to reside at the port of entry which may be established within the said district; and the President is also, authorized, if he shall judge proper, to appoint, not exceeding two surveyors, to reside at such places as he may judge expedient to constitute ports of delivery only.
The district of Oswego shall include all the shores and waters of the river St. Lawrence, from the place where said river is intersected by the forty-fifth degree of northern latitude, and all the shores and waters of Lake Ontario, and the rivers and waters connected therewith, Iying within the jurisdiction of the United States, and within the state of New York, to the eastward of the west bank of Genesee river; and a collector shall be appointed, who shall reside at or near Oswego, at such place as the President of the United States shall appoint to be the port of entry or the district; and the President of the United States is authorized to appoint not exceeding three surveyors, to reside at such places within the said district, as he shall judge proper, and to constitute each or either of such places to be ports of delivery only.
The district of Niagara shall include all the shores and waters of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and the rivers connected therewith, lying within the jurisdiction of the United States, and within the state of New York,
to the westward of the west bank of Genesee River; and a collector shall be appointed who shall reside at Niagara, which shall be the sole port of entry for the district; and the President of the United States is authorized to appoint, not exceeding two surveyors, to reside at such paces within the said district, as he shall judge proper, and to constitute each or either of such places to be the ports of delivery only.

With the country, just under 30 years of formation, no port districts were officially established on the Lake Ontario shoreline from Fort Niagara in Youngstown, New York to the eastern side of Sodus Bay. On March 3, 1803, in the publication, A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 – 1875 in Statutes at Large, 7th Congress and under President Thomas Jefferson the government established a federal port district on Lake Ontario. You can read the exact text of this establishment do so here https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=002/llsl002.db&recNum=265 and it continues on this page https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=002/llsl002.db&recNum=266

Second Session of the Eighth Congress That three new Port Districts were created 2 in New York and Port of Miami

It was not until the Eighth Congress, the second session (November 5, 1804 – March 3, 1805) when the port for Genessee River and Buffaloe, noticed how Genessee and Buffalo were written during the 8th session of Congress on March 3 of 1805, here is the entry for the text in the table of contents Districts of Gennessee, Buffaloe Creek, Miami, Erie Act to establish the districts of Gennessee, of Buffaloe Creek, and of Miami this Miami is not the port in Flordia but one on Lake Erie; and to alter port of entry to the district of Erie March 3, 1805. The text Eighth session of Chapter 34 reads:

Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse from the Rochester Public Library Historical Division

Section 1: Be it enacted by the Senate and House Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the thirty-first day of March next, all the shores and waters of the Lake Ontario, and the rivers and waters connected therewith, lying within the jurisdiction of the United States, and within the state of New York, to the westward of the western extremity of Sodus bay, but excluding all the rivers and waters emptying into the said bay, and to the eastward of the eastern extremity of a certain creek or bay, lying between Niagara and the Gennessee river, and known by the name of Oak Orchard creek, shall be a district, to be called the district of Gennessee, of which the river Gennessee shall be the sole port of entry; and a collector for said district shall be appointed, to reside on the river Gennessee.

Section 2. And be it further enacted, That all the shores, rivers and waters heretofore belonging to the district of Niagara, which empty into Lake Erie. or into the river Niagara, above the falls of Niagara, shall, from and after the thirty-first day of March next, to be called the district of Buffaloe Creek, of which Buffaloe Creek shall be the sole port of entry; and a collector for the said district shall be appointed, to reside on Buffaloe Creek.

In 1821 it is written in the Statutes at Large that there was a deading of land to the United States for a lighthouse to be built at the mouth of the Genesee River. Mehitable Hincher deeded the U. S government the property on which to build a lighthouse. The arrow points to the Hincher property. The entrance to the Genesee River was difficult to navigate as it was clogged with reeds and obstructed by sandbars. Lake Ontario extended farther south than it is today and as you can see from this map, the shore waters were marshy. The site on a bluff overlooking the river was chosen because of its height.

Improvements to the Pier

For the pier improvements we mention in the snapshot we found the entry in Statutes at Large. They approved and documented here A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 – 1875 and it is in the Statutes at Large, 20th Congress, 2nd Session, March 2, 1829, and here you will find the that it cost ten thousand dollars in today cost would be $312,504.35 for navigational improvements on the Genesee to help ships enter the ports and leave the port there to head off to other ports along Lake Ontario. see the link here for the text from the session https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=004/llsl004.db&recNum=394.

The work Completed was documented in Statutes at Large, 23rd Congress, 1st Session on June 28, 1834, and for the completion, it cost additional twenty thousand dollars that were paid out, and today that cost would be $668,613.95 based on inflation for the work that would have been done between 1829 and 1834 at the Port of Genesee. here is the link to the information on the cost of completion of the upgrades https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=004/llsl004.db&recNum=750.

In 1881, the light was turned off in the tower and in 1884 was moved to the lighthouse on the edge of the west pier.

On January 1, 1916, the City of Rochester, mostly to gain control of the port, annexed the village of Charlotte from the Town of Greece.

Seal of Town of Greece

The Seal of the Town of Greece features the lighthouse from Charlotte as part of the Town’s Past

Original Town Seal or sketch we are not sure about this image

1954 Town Seal on the Town Flag and Original Town Seal

It was not till 1954 that the official flag was adopted by the Town of Greece.

How the Lighthouse was lit?

Q: Did you know that the Charlotte-Genesee lighthouse was lit by whale oil?
A: It originally had 10 whale oil Argand lamps, which were replaced with a Fresnel lens in 1853.

ARGAND’S LAMP

In 1782, François-Pierre Ami Argand (1750-1803), a Swiss-born physicist living in France, invented the double draft burner, which became known as the Argand oil lamp. Argand’s design used two thin metal tubes with one set inside the other. The wick was placed between these tubes and was thus formed into a long hollow cylinder. Air was allowed to enter the center of the wick through holes placed in the oil drip-cup attached to the bottom of the wick tubes. Air was also allowed to enter around the outside of the outer wick tube, through holes in the bottom of the chimney holder. Argand’s design provided much more oxygen to the flame, more efficient fuel combustion, and a much brighter light. Argand also invented the use of a chimney, which helped to provide additional airflow over the wick and protected the flame from outside air currents, which could make it flicker.

In 1787, another Frenchman, Monsieur Lange, invented the constricted chimney, which Argand quickly added to his design. The constricted chimney forced the outside air closer to the flame. This action further improved the combustion of the fuel, giving a still brighter flame, which was measured at about 7 candlepower.

Source: United States Lighthouse Society https://uslhs.org/lighthouse-lamps-through-time#:~:text=Argand’s%20Lamp&text=Argand’s%20design%20used%20two%20thin,bottom%20of%20the%20wick%20tubes.

(Drawing by Author from a Lighthouse Board Drawing) A typical Argand Lamp Burner. (1782)

Installation of the New Lighthouse

After being neglected for almost a hundred years the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse Society rescued the old tower and restored it to the point where the tower was reactivated as a working lighthouse in November 2014 and now appears on all Coast Guard charts and maps. The light can now be seen over 12 miles into the lake. A Fresnel lens, or a replica of vintage lighthouse lenses that shine strong beams of light over far distances, was sponsored by an anonymous donor to the tune of $34,000 and assembled by professionals in Florida. The entire project, including the lens, cost around $189,000, Salter said. From the Democrat & Chronicle News article September 25, 2014. https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/09/25/charlotte-genesee-lighthouse-lantern/16205255/

The Greece Historical Society presents these weekly Bicentennial Snapshots to mark the 200th Anniversary of the founding of the Town of Greece. Each week we feature a particular aspect of Greece, New York history. Each Bicentennial story will be unique in nature and over the course of the 52 episodes, you will learn about the people and events that comprise the vibrant history of Greece from its earliest days to the present.

Each story is researched, written, and narrated by retired librarian and local historian Maureen Whalen; she has a unique style of storytelling that makes each Bicentennial Snapshot come alive and easy for everyone to understand.

The mission of the Greece Historical Society is to discover, research, and preserve the history of the Town of Greece and to share that history with its residents and the local community through public programs, publications, museum exhibits, and accessibility to its archives and artifacts.

If you are interested in learning more about the History of the Town of Greece history then pick up a copy of Eight Miles Along the Shore or any of the other publications in our online gift shop. There may be a few other books about the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse available at the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse in their gift shop also consider donating to help them celebrate their bicentennial as well.

Bicentennial Snapshot # 07: Town of Greece War of 1812 Part 3

May 3, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

This week we conclude our three-part presentation on the attacks along the Greece shores of Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Today we look at the battle fought on May 15, 1814. What occurred then never made it into any national history books, but is legendary in local history. Initially, 33 men from the volunteer militia responded to the sighting of the British fleet at the mouth of the Genesee River and fooled Commodore Sir James Yeo into thinking that they were “a substantial force” until more regiments could join them to turn away the enemy.

The Valiant 33

We know 17 these names of and members of the Valiant 33:

Isaac Stone, Francis Brown, Elisha Ely, Abelard Reynolds, Hamlet Scranton, Jehiel Barnard, Hervey Ely, Jesse Hawley, Silas O. Smith, Oliver Colby, Sam Latta^‡§, George Latta^*§ Thomas King^†, Bradford King^†, Zaccheus Colby^‡, Eastman Colby, Frederick Rowe

Note the symbols next to some of the names

*- Greece Town Supervisor
† – They are the Sons of Giddon King more on King’s Landing is in King’s Landing
‡ – They are Town of Northhampton Supervisors, not Gates or Greece – The town of Gates was formed in 1813 when the town changed its name to Gates, and for more information on the forming of the town of Greece check out the first snapshot of How Greece was formed
§- The Latta Family, Sam and George are brothers, born in Walkill, Ulster co., New York. More on the Latta Family in Snapshot #10 and in the publications Eight Miles Along the Shore and the latest book Pioneer Families of Greece Volume 1.

Samuel Latta's War of 1812 Card — Samuel Latta’s War of 1812 Card

Sketch of what appears to be the Frederick Bushnell and James K. Guernsey mercantile business at the mouth of the Genesee River or the

One of the Wearhouse that was hit was near Frederick Bushnell’s and James K. Guernsey’s mercantile business located in the Port.

The war of 1812 did last till February 18^th, 1815 but there were so many small battles and wars in this battle, was the British attempting to retake the colony back and make America regret its choice to become its own country on July 4^th, 1776.

General Peter Porter arrived that afternoon in time to receive a second flag. The British demanded that they surrender the provisions or they would land an army and 400 Indians. There were now 600 to 800 men on the east and west sides of the river ready to fight. Not knowing how many men were defending Charlotte, Yeo sailed away from the mouth of the Genesee on the morning of May 16, 1814.

General Peter Porter sent a message back to the Governor of New York that day stating:

“We saved the town and our credit by fairly outbullying John Bull.”
General Peter Porter

“At the Genesee, the enemy had a substantial force.”
Sir James Yeo wrote in his report to his superior officers:

Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece - Vol. 1 — Eight Miles Along the Shore By Virginia Tomkiewicz and Shirley Cox Husted

More on the war of 1812 is in the book we published Eight Miles Along the Shore.

Learn more about the Latta Families Samuel Latta and George Latta in Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece Volume 1

Bicentennial Snapshot # 06: War of 1812 Part 2

April 26, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

American fleet caught up with the becalmed British fleet at Braddock Bay

This week we continue with part two of three presentations on the attacks along the Greece shores of Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Today we look at the battle fought on September 11, 1813. For two years American Commodore Isaac Chauncey and British Commodore Sir James Yeo maneuvered for control of Lake Ontario. When they met at the mouth of the Genesee River on September 11, 1813, it was only their second direct engagement with each other. That morning the American fleet caught up with the becalmed British fleet at Braddock Bay. At 2:30 p.m., just offshore of Charlotte, Chauncey, and his fleet had closed to within ¾ of a mile of Yeo, putting him in long-gun range. The flagship, Pike, and the Sylph began to fire their cannons at the British fleet; the bombardment lasted for 90 minutes.

For more on the War of 1812 and its connection with Greece, New York check out: Eight Miles Along The Shore by Virginia Tomkiewicz and Shirley Cox Husted is the first book you should pick up.

Bicentennial Snapshot # 05: War of 1812 Part 1

April 19, 2022December 31, 2023 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

This week we begin a three-part presentation on the attacks along the Greece shores of Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Today we look at the British attacks that occurred on October 1, 1812, and June 15, 1813. At first, there was little support for the war in the Lake Ontario shoreline settlements. The causes of the war were not their grievances. They enjoyed a healthy trade relationship with their Canadian neighbors and it seemed so unlikely that the war would impact them. However, once British warships visited their shore and bombarded them with cannonballs their attitude changed; they realized that the war could be at their doors any time the lake was navigable, especially as Charlotte was a site where provisions for the troops were stockpiled.

If you are into books then pick up a copy of Eight Miles Along the Shore: or any of the other publications in our online gift shop.

Bicentennial Snapshot # 04: King’s Landing

April 12, 2022December 31, 2023 by Pat Worboys, Maureen Whalen, Joe Vitello and Lee Strauss

This week we consider King’s Landing, the First European Settlement, and Lake Port west of the Genesee River. Natives of Sheffield, Connecticut, in 1797. the King and Granger families established a settlement on the banks of the Genesee River. They cut roads, built a bridge over the ravine, cleared the land, built a wharf and a schooner, sailed to Fort Niagara with their first load of produce and wheat, killed rattlesnakes, and went about their daily lives until the settlement was decimated by malaria or Genesee Fever as it was called then. In 1807, the seven Hanford brothers renewed the King’s Landing settlement and built a mill, hotel, and shipping center. More on Handford’s Tavern involvement in the War of 1812 Part 1.

The King’s Landing Bicentennial Snapshot was compiled by Lee Strauss, and Joseph Vitello, using notes by Helen Edson Slocum, Narrated by Maureen Whalen.

For more on King’s Landing check out: Eight Miles Along The Shore by Virginia Tomkiewicz and Shirley Cox Husted is the first book you should pick up.

There is a copy of King’s Landing, A History of the First Settlement west of the Genesee River in the State of New York 1797 by Helen Edson Slocum available in our reference library for research only.

Don’t forget to, check out the Digital Kiosk inside the Newcomb Museum Wing has a fully interactive exhibit on King’s Landing.

Bicentennial Snapshot # 03: The Hinchers

April 5, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

This week on the Bicentennial snapshot, we take a look at The Hinchers. They were the first European settlers on the shore of Lake Ontario, on the west side of the Genesee, between here and the Niagara This week we introduce you to the Hincher Family, the first European settlers west of the Genesee River. William Hincher, the patriarch of the family, was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and a participant in Shays’ Rebellion. In 1792, he brought his wife, Mehitable, and their eight children to western New York, settling on the west bank of the Genesee River where the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse stands today.

If you would enjoy reading books about history, then here is a list of books related to this snapshot: The Eight Miles Along The Shore by Virginia Tomkiewicz and Shirley Cox Husted is the first book you should pick up. Please visit the online gift shop located on our website or stop in to see our selection during our scheduled hours.

Sources and credits for the graphics used are given either in the lower third portion of an image or at the end of the video.

Bicentennial Snapshot # 02: The Onödowá’ga (Oh-n’own-dough-wahgah) (Seneca is the English name)

March 29, 2022January 27, 2025 by Pat Worboys and Maureen Whalen

In this week’s Bicentennial Snapshot, we will look at the indigenous people of the Genesee Valley, the Onödowá’ga (the Seneca). Onödowá’ga means “People of the Great Hill.” They have always lived in western New York, and the Town of Greece is on their land. As part of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, they were “the keepers of the Western Door.”

Map of Town of Greece, New York, Exhibiting known aboriginal villages campsites and trails. Presented to the Rochester Historical Society by Harrison C. Follett in 1918. Seen on pg 15 in Eight Miles Along the Shore

Numerous tribal sites have existed in Greece, New York, particularly near Braddock Bay, where they would camp during the summer months to hunt and trap game and gather cranberries from the bogs of Cranberry Pond. To the left is a drawing of a map showing all the locations of the Onödowá’ga campsites, villages, trails, and burial sites in the town of Greece.

Suppose you would like to learn more about the Onödowá’ga or the Seneca. In that case, we have a chapter called Indian “Giants” in the Earth in the book Eight Miles Along the Shore, is where you can learn more about where they lived in the town and the discovered archaeological sites.

Haudenosaunee Painting — Haudenosaunee mural Painted by Walt Goulding

The cover art for this clip was the mural painting that is in the Haudenosaunee exhibit area before entering the Newcomb Museum Wing. The mural was painted by a long-time member and former President of the Historical Society’s Walt Goulding.

Ada Ridge

The Myths of how the area known as “Henpeck” South Greece got its moniker

Henpeck Myth Number 1

Henpeck Myth Number 2

Henpeck Myth Number 3

Henpeck Myth Conclusion

The Myths of how the area known as “Hoosick” West Greece got its moniker

Hoosick Myth Number 1

Hoosick Myth Number 2

The Braddock Bay Myths

Braddock Bay Myth Number 1 – The French and Indian War Connection

Braddock Bay Myth Number 2 –The Lost Treasure of The Pirate Braddock

Barnard Crossing is not a Myth but connected to a real family

When did the United States remove apostrophes from most places?

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Anderson’s General Store

Did you know that a portion of Ridge Road was a toll-based planked road?

Greece Baptist Church

The Rowe Tavern

St. Johns Church, the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church.

The Falls Hotel

The Fetzner Family

Buckman’s

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Question of the Week:

H.C. Phelps.

Gilbert “Burt” J Wagg

Answer to the Question

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Interesting Facts

Question: Did you know Rochester went from being the flour city to the Flower city?

Question: What was Rochester known for first as the Flour or was it Flower?

Asa Rowe (Brith: 25 Feb 1806, Death:23 Nov 1894 (aged 88) )

James Vick (Born November 23, 1818 – Death 16 May 1882 (aged 63))

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The Ridge.

Plank Roads

J. Y. McClintock and the McClintock Cubes

Annexation of parts of Ridge for the City of Rochester

The Greece Memorial Town Hall and ADA Ridge

Dewey Ave at West Ridge Road

Plazas on The Ridge

The evolution of the Ridge from a Path to a Six-Lane with Median

Lay Farm

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The Ridge.

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Samuel Latta

George C. Latta

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The Connection to the Hinchers

The Creation of the first 6 ports in New York noticed that Buffalo and Genesee are not among these first six ports

Second Session of the Eighth Congress That three new Port Districts were created 2 in New York and Port of Miami

Improvements to the Pier

Seal of Town of Greece

How the Lighthouse was lit?

ARGAND’S LAMP

Installation of the New Lighthouse

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The Valiant 33

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The Myths of how the area known as “Henpeck”
South Greece got its moniker

The Myths of how the area known as “Hoosick”
West Greece got its moniker

Braddock Bay Myth Number 1 –
The French and Indian War Connection

Braddock Bay Myth Number 2 –
The Lost Treasure of The Pirate Braddock

When did the United States remove apostrophes
from most places?